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Hi I'm back - And a World Record holder now...


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Hi I'm back - And a World Record holder now...
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scratt
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2006-02-12, 00:07

Hi all... Have not been around for a while as I have been up in Northern Thailand jumping out of planes... a lot!

Well we managed to set 2 new world records in the process...

http://www.theworldteam.com/

(This one you were sure to have seen on the news)

The second one, set in Bangkok yesterday over the new International Airport may, or may not have been on the news.. But to us was very important as it was in honour of the King's Silver Jubilee.. His Majesty The King of Thailand is a very very popular Monarch, because he is a very nice guy basically..

http://www.theworldteam.com/06SkydivesMass.htm

Ah... well back to normality now, and some serious sun burn issues to get over!!

'Remember, measure life by the moments that take your breath away, not by how many breaths you take'
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sirnick4
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2006-02-12, 00:16

Congrats!
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Banana
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2006-02-12, 00:30

So you're telling me that you've been able to prove that flying squirrels do in fact, fly?

Congratulations, man!
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Mac+
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2006-02-12, 00:32

I saw this on the news and I wondered to myself if you were involved in that world record attempt scratt. (Of course, you were!) Congratulations!
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LudwigVan
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2006-02-12, 01:12

Congrats, man. Good to know you didn't kill yourself just to get the record. (Heights... Falling... *shudders*)

And you've been away so long, you forgot to post in the correct forum, methinks.
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Kickaha
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2006-02-12, 02:10

Doesn't that mean you have 1/400th of a world record??



Sweet dude, I saw that on the news and also wondered if you were part of it. Congrats!
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NosferaDrew
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2006-02-12, 02:10


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scratt
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2006-02-12, 03:01

What good eyesight you have!

Was it the teeth or the tail you recognised....

Thanks for the feedback everyone.
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NosferaDrew
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2006-02-12, 03:32

Heh.
Any idea which one is really you?
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scratt
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2006-02-12, 04:05

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kickaha
Doesn't that mean you have 1/400th of a world record??



Sweet dude, I saw that on the news and also wondered if you were part of it. Congrats!
...and 1/960th of the Mass Drop! Ah well.. All I have to do is be involved in another 500 or 1000 world records to own a whole one!

As for where I am I would have to check with Wendy where she was when she took that shot (apart from underneith us). I generally jump in blue and so have a rough idea.. But will have to get a copy of the video to get peoples positions.. That has not been released to anyone yet.

'Remember, measure life by the moments that take your breath away, not by how many breaths you take'
Extreme Sports Cafe | ESC's blog | scratt's blog | @thescratt
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AsLan^
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2006-02-12, 05:10

Congratulations scratt !!
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Mugge
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2006-02-12, 05:13

Congrats scratt!



I've actually saw that on the new last night and thought you might be up there. They said there only was a few injuries.

I was just wondering how so many skydivers would manage to collide in mid air? I guess such a thing must require some serious planning.
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scratt
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2006-02-12, 05:31

Well the skydive starts at 24 - 27,000 feet, and everyone needs oxygen until the moment they leave the planes. And the skill of the Royal Thai Air Force flying that many Hercules aircraft in a very specific formation at that altitude and dealing with the entire payload leaping out has a great bearing on it.

There were no serious injuries in either jump. One guy early in the 400 Way attempt did smash up his pelvis on landing, and a few broken ankles / arms did ensue.. But nothing that will not mean that people return to complete health (and the ability to jump again) happened.

EDIT - The vast majority of injuries happened either exiting the planes as large groups of people flash out of the back of the aircraft into the turbulent airstream (this is mainly twisted arms etc), and on landing. Thankfully there were no mid-air cannopy collisions, or injuries attributed to collissions during the formation. If you collide below 1000 feet under cannopy then your chances of escaping serious injury are very slim.

I may have face cancer one day in my future from the sun burn I got, but then I may have got that many years ago anyway.... So I am not complaining!

It's worth taking a nose at the web site if you are interested in the formation aspect of the jump. It took many months of design, as each new skydiver 'docking' on the formation sends 'shock' waves through it. So the 'structure' had to take this into account.

Also when the video is available you will perhaps see how the breakoff is staged so that a skydiver in the center deploys their parachute as a key so that then a ring of skydivers around the outside 'tracks' away superman style and deploys as the rest of the formation continues to fall. This is repeated right down to the lowest altitude that the skydivers can go, spreading all 400+ people out accross the sky as far away laterally, and on different vertical levels from each 'ring' as possible.

The 960 Mass Drop employed many more planes, and those planes flying accross the drop zone in close succession, allowing one plane load to be in the air and falling before the next load get out above them...

The best bit for me is the sound of all the parachutes opening when heard from the ground... It's like a long roll of thunder lasting almost a minute, and then there are hundreds of bright coloured canopies in the air.. Beautiful, but a bit like being in an arial traffic jam if you are under cannopy! I actually enjoy watching the video of that and the reaction of the people on the ground more than the skydive itself...

When we landed after jumping there were often a lot of Thai school children on the ground who had been allowed a day off school to watch. We were asked to sign autographs in each of their notebooks, and have pictures taken with them as part of their school project. That was so much fun, and like being some kind of rock-star!!

I also did some filming for one of the 3 star Generals re-training.. He had a few problems getting all his skills done on one jump so simply called in a faster more powerful Fiat G222 aircraft (a bit like a mini Hercules). I would love to be able to make a single phone call for a plane that could go a bit higher, faster if I needed more time in the air...

'Remember, measure life by the moments that take your breath away, not by how many breaths you take'
Extreme Sports Cafe | ESC's blog | scratt's blog | @thescratt

Last edited by scratt : 2006-02-12 at 05:46.
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Franz Josef
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2006-02-12, 06:12

Congratulations, scratt I'm really struggling with the attraction of throwing-yourself-out-of-a-plane-with-a-bag-of-silk-on-your-back thing, but it must have been a great day.
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curiousuburb
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2006-02-12, 07:15

Congrats, Scratt...

So what's Thai for "Geronimoooooooo..."
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julesstoop
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2006-02-12, 09:05

Congratulations Scratt! Waiting for the video...
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Moogs
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2006-02-12, 09:16

Bad ass, my friend.... good work!

Have you ever done any of those "covert ops" type jumps (military or otherwise) where the jump altitude was so high you needed one of those mini-oxygen masks and tanks on the way down, or is that just Hollywood BS?

...into the light of a dark black night.
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chucker
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2006-02-12, 09:19

Congrats!
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Mugge
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2006-02-12, 09:38

Thanks for the account scratt

I'm really impressed about that mass jump, because the one time I tried to jump out of an aeroplane I almost got myself killed. It was a static line jump out the side door of a small one engine plane, and unfortunately I got into a spin or something, so I ended up being entangled in the lines so only the left side of the chute opened. I managed to free myself without panicking, (in your face Houdini!) but once I landed I just sat on the parachute and waited for someone to come over and reset my brain. But the guys running the club just started to complain about that I was sitting on their parachute. I didn't feel like doing that again anytime soon.

There was a lot of different emotions involved with that jump:
Sitting in the plane - thinking it's scary that the plane is missing a door.
Standing in the door - thinking I'm a giant in a Lego world and it's not that bad.
Spinning, entangled and hurdling towards the ground - no time for panic gotta untangle yours truly...
Gliding properly down - it's cold and thinking I'm not coming down fast enough.
Landing - oh no it's going too fast, I'm gonna crash!
Sitting on the ground - paralysed.

Well, it wasn't that bad, seen in retrospective. And it's not the first time I've almost offed myself.

Last edited by Mugge : 2006-02-12 at 11:23.
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scratt
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2006-02-12, 09:54

Seriously, thanks once again for all the cool feedback, everyone.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Moogs
Have you ever done any of those "covert ops" type jumps (military or otherwise) where the jump altitude was so high you needed one of those mini-oxygen masks and tanks on the way down, or is that just Hollywood BS?
I would love to do one of those.. I have been offered the opportunity, and hope to this year..

They are not exactly the same as the Hollywood stuff you see, but yes you do have oxygen on the way down and they are typically for what is known as HALO (High Altitude Low Opening) jumps. The idea being to sneak into enemy territory, undectected - and there you are jumping out very high. Too high to be safe without oxygen for the top portion of the jump. A Brit. jumper used a modified system once alongside normal skydiving gear, and his own oxygen rig, to establish the longest Bird Man flight... He almost died as part of the oxygen feed froze at the top of the dive.. Jumping a bird man suit can extend a 60 second skydive into a 4 or 5 minute one for example, so there you may need oxygen on the jump as you descend into oxygen rich air slower..

In theory although being above 10,000 feet or so you are 'slowly dieing', in reality it takes a while to happen, and even being hypoxic is a mild effect for a while at anything from 12,000 - 20 odd thousand feet. Hence us using oxygen onboard the plane when going in the high teens (17k+) and above, but not needing it once we are falling as our exposure time to high altitude low oxygen is then short... Sometimes you can be waiting in the plane to jump out for up to half an hour, especially over international airports, which is often where these demo / record attempt jumps are done.. Half an hour at 20,000 feet is not so good for you, and even if you felt ok you can be sure your reactions are no good for a formation skydive with 400 other people! So it's more about keeping you sharp at altitude ready for the jump with sport diving, as opposed to exiting a plane in battle gear at silly high altitudes in war time. Most Skydiving Bookies where we use Hercs and things which go to 16 - 17k and above, even though we don't really use Oxygen, there are always loose feeds around the plane in case you feel groggy..

One of my ambitions is to go straight from a high altitude plane, into a scuba dive. i.e. Jump, Open parachute, then cut it away above the water and dive in and keep going down a la James Bond...

'Remember, measure life by the moments that take your breath away, not by how many breaths you take'
Extreme Sports Cafe | ESC's blog | scratt's blog | @thescratt

Last edited by scratt : 2006-02-12 at 10:20.
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alcimedes
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2006-02-12, 09:56

You can now tell chicks you're a one in a million guy.

6 billion/400.
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scratt
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2006-02-12, 10:20

Quote:
Originally Posted by alcimedes
You can now tell chicks you're a one in a million guy.

6 billion/400.
I feel a new tattoo design coming on!
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Banana
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2006-02-12, 10:34

Quote:
Originally Posted by scratt
One of my ambitions is to go straight from a high altitude plane, into a scuba dive. i.e. Jump, Open parachute, then cut it away above the water and dive in and keep going down a la James Bond...

Weird- I had the same exact dream. I haven't done any skydiving, but am certified Scuba diver.

Would have been fun to do that; though I have to wonder what would happen to one's body when one goes from 27,000 feet above sea level to what? 100 feet? below sea level. I am fairly sure that you'll get hit hard by nitrogen narcosis, not as sure about bends; it's likely only if one were breathing 1 atm of oxygen at 27,000 depressurized cabin, which would concentrate the nitrogen solution. Otherwise, if you're breathing directly, there's no possiblity of getting bent, even if going down to 200 or 300 feet (e.g. up to 9 atms).

Then there's the dynamic of landing in water. Someone once told me that you had to align your body precisely, because at high speed, water become like a brick wall. Whether to enter 90 perfectly orthodogonally, or at an angle, I don't know which to believe.

Still would have been fun.
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drewprops
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2006-02-12, 11:25

Funny, they ran the James Bond movie on TV last night where Pierce Brosnan did the HALO/SCUBA deal. Congrats Scratt, that's a crazy thing you guys did, congratulations on being one of the new record holders!!!!

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scratt
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2006-02-12, 11:34

Quote:
Originally Posted by Banana
Weird- I had the same exact dream. I haven't done any skydiving, but am certified Scuba diver.

Would have been fun to do that; though I have to wonder what would happen to one's body when one goes from 27,000 feet above sea level to what? 100 feet? below sea level. I am fairly sure that you'll get hit hard by nitrogen narcosis, not as sure about bends; it's likely only if one were breathing 1 atm of oxygen at 27,000 depressurized cabin, which would concentrate the nitrogen solution. Otherwise, if you're breathing directly, there's no possiblity of getting bent, even if going down to 200 or 300 feet (e.g. up to 9 atms).
That's some cool physiology problem to think about. I had not thought about the effects of breathing pure O2, but at reduced pressure before, and then going to a 'pressurized' depth.. Although in theory the lack of pressure at 27,000 feet should make you at least a little less 'saturated' in any gas, and it's only really Nitrogen that has the narcosis effect. Although O2 at pressure is poisonous in a different way (60m+), and can cause convulsions below a certain depth (that's called Oxygen toxicity). There is also a school of thought that O2 and N both cause a form of 'Nitrogen Narcosis' and it's just the Nitorgen one we feel first..

Quote:
Originally Posted by Banana
Then there's the dynamic of landing in water. Someone once told me that you had to align your body precisely, because at high speed, water become like a brick wall. Whether to enter 90 perfectly orthodogonally, or at an angle, I don't know which to believe.
That one's easy.. Just cut-away your parachute a few feet above the water and plop in. It's as easy as pulling a cord out, which simply releases the parachute from your shoulders. We do it when we 'chop' the main [parachute] in a malfunction, so that can then cleanly deploy the reserve [parachute]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Banana
Still would have been fun.
Absolutely....

Another solution to the weight problem (A lot of people don't realise scuba tanks are real heavy) is to use the same Carbon Fiber tanks that Fire Crews use. They are lightweight, and can hold a fair presure of gas. When you see scuba stunts in the movies that's what they use...

'Remember, measure life by the moments that take your breath away, not by how many breaths you take'
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Banana
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2006-02-12, 12:06

Quote:
Originally Posted by scratt
That's some cool physiology problem to think about. I had not thought about the effects of breathing pure O2, but at reduced pressure before, and then going to a 'pressurized' depth.. Although in theory the lack of pressure at 27,000 feet should make you at least a little less 'saturated' in any gas, and it's only really Nitrogen that has the narcosis effect. Although O2 at pressure is poisonous in a different way (60m+), and can cause convulsions below a certain depth (that's called Oxygen toxicity). There is also a school of thought that O2 and N both cause a form of 'Nitrogen Narcosis' and it's just the Nitorgen one we feel first..
Sorry I meant air, not pure 02 (I would imagine that you could breathe pure oxygen up to a certain point, then switch to other gas for depth, but there's issue of oxygen still being in your body when it pressurizes). Yes, oxygen toxicity would be very very bad, even worse than bends, as once you get convulsions underwater, you're more likely to drown in matter of seconds whereas with bends, you slowly die a painful death (assuming there's no medical attention, but both of us know better than that )

I wasn't aware of "oxygen narcosis," would like to read about it. Also, I'm not sure what you mean by being less saturated in reduced pressure environment? Seem to me that if I'm breathing in a mask delievering 1 atm of air, I am at higher pressure than the environment? Or do you breathe according to ambivalent pressure?



Quote:
That one's easy.. Just cut-away your parachute a few feet above the water and plop in. It's as easy as pulling a cord out, which simply releases the parachute from your shoulders. We do it when we 'chop' the main [parachute] in a malfunction, so that can then cleanly deploy the reserve [parachute]
I presume free-falling all way to water isn't an option then...
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psmith2.0
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2006-02-12, 12:19

Congrats, Scratt...

This thread probably needs to be in AppleOutsider (may get more viewings/participation), since it's not really tech-oriented?

That's a cool jump!
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scratt
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2006-02-12, 12:34

Thanks drewprops, 'scates, and again everyone else for your comments.

Yeah. Sorry I did post this in the wrong place I guess... Must be the excitement / hypoxia / sun burn...

Actually I missed this place while we were up in the North. Tried logging on from my mobile at one point to say 'Hi..', but got called away as I was doing it..

Banana, way out there in wakky ville one night we did actually discuss freefalling all the way into water.. Discussion roamed around the stand, and head down freefly skydiving positions, so you didn't 'belly-flop' your entrance to the water... But I guess at the sort of speeds a human body is going at at terminal velocity would make water like concrete, whatever way you hit it.. So I think a brief pause with a canopy above your head, before entering the water would be a wise plan!

'Remember, measure life by the moments that take your breath away, not by how many breaths you take'
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Unch
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2006-02-12, 12:53

Just wondering, what kinds of speeds are you approaching each other at while trying to move into formation?
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AsLan^
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2006-02-12, 12:59

9.8 m/s/s
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